FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contacts:
Tim Hawkins
616.486.6091
616.443.0361
timothy.hawkins@spectrumhealth.org
@SpecHealthNews
Bruce Rossman
616.391.3706
bruce.rossman@spectrumhealth.org
@SpecHealthNews
Spectrum Health to Present Efficiency Best Practices to State of
Michigan Employees
Part of Office of Good Government Lunch and Learn Series
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich., April 16, 2014 – Spectrum Health experts will share performance
improvement techniques with State of Michigan employees at an event sponsored by the Office
of Good Government, a division of the Michigan Department of Technology, Management, and
Budget.
Terry Newell, director, best practice development, Spectrum Health, will speak to state
employees at the George W. Romney Building in Lansing, Thursday at noon as part of the Office
of Good Government’s Lunch and Learn series.
“Continuous improvement is a key element of our strategy to reinvent government in Michigan,”
said Claire Allard, director, Office of Good Government and senior strategy advisor to the
Governor. “Our goal is to make excellence in customer service and continuous improvement
distinguishing characteristics of the culture of state government. We are doing this by working
with external partners to build internal capacity, empowering employees to develop and share
innovative ideas and solutions, leveraging and promoting best practices across agencies, and
measuring, communicating and celebrating successes.”
“The great state of Michigan is taking an active interest in the techniques of process improvement
and is bringing in experts from around the state,” said Kurt Knoth, vice president, performance
improvement, Spectrum Health. “As part of our goal to be a national thought leader in health care
excellence, this is an opportunity to share the success of our program with a wider audience.”
Knoth said that Spectrum Health connected with the State of Michigan through its participation in
the Michigan Lean Consortium, a non-profit membership organization dedicated to spreading
lean principles throughout every public and private sector industry in Michigan.
According to a 2012 Institute of Medicine report, the nation’s health care system wastes $750
billion each year, or 30 cents of every dollar spent. Labor productivity in the U.S. healthcare
system decreased by .6 percent per year from 1990 to 2010. During the same time period, the
labor productivity of the U.S. manufacturing industry increased by 4.7 percent per year.
“The same improvement principles that helped transform manufacturing form the backbone of the
Spectrum Health Performance Improvement System,” said Newell.
According to Newell, the Spectrum Health Performance Improvement System (SHPIS):
 Focuses on total patient satisfaction, an environment of teamwork and improvement and
a reduction of non-value added activity
 Provides the tools for people to continually improve their work
 Reduces wastes that result in non-value added activity in the areas of overproducing,
transporting, defects, waiting, motion, overprocessing, inventory and underutilized people
potential
Recent examples of success include:
 More than $2.1 million in actual FY 2014 savings, $7.1 million in planned savings and a
cost avoidance of $750,000
 A 64 percent reduction in time spent waiting for a specialist referral
 Structural improvements in the emergency department resulting in reduced wait times and
savings
Event: Michigan Department of Technology, Management, and Budget Office of Good Government Lunch and Learn
Topic: Process Improvement
Presenter: Terry Newell, Director of Best Practice Deployment, Performance Improvement,
Spectrum Health
Location: George W. Romney Building, 111 South Capitol Avenue, Lansing, MI 48933
Date: Thursday, April 17, at 12:00 noon
Spectrum Health is a not-for-profit health system, based in West Michigan, offering a full
continuum of care through the Spectrum Health Hospital Group, which is comprised of 11
hospitals including Helen DeVos Children’s Hospital; 170 ambulatory and service sites; 1,080
employed physicians and advanced practice providers including members of the Spectrum
Health Medical Group; and Priority Health, a 575,000-member health plan. Spectrum Health is
West Michigan’s largest employer with 21,300 employees. The organization provided $250
million in community benefit during its 2013 fiscal year.
spectrumhealth.org
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